Pheasant's Tears winery: Sighnaghi's natural wine landmark

Why Pheasant’s Tears matters

There is a short list of wineries that genuinely changed how the world thinks about Georgian wine. Pheasant’s Tears is at the top of it. When American painter John Wurdeman and winemaker Gela Patalishvili began making wine together in Sighnaghi in the early 2000s, they were working at the intersection of two powerful impulses: the global natural wine movement’s hunger for authenticity, and Georgia’s own suppressed tradition of radical, uncompromising qvevri winemaking. The wines they produced — deeply amber, tannic, made from varieties that barely existed on the international radar — began appearing on the lists of the world’s best natural wine bars. Critics wrote about them. Sommeliers made pilgrimages. Wurdeman himself became one of the most articulate ambassadors Georgian wine had ever had.

To visit Pheasant’s Tears today is to encounter a project that has grown without losing its essential character. It remains a winery where art, food, music, and agriculture are treated as a continuous conversation rather than separate concerns. The restaurant is one of the finest in Kakheti. The cellar is genuine. And the wines — made from obscure Georgian varieties that almost disappeared during the Soviet era — are unlike anything produced anywhere else on earth.

History and philosophy

Wurdeman arrived in Georgia in the early 2000s as a painter, drawn by the country’s polyphonic singing tradition. He encountered qvevri winemaking through the same network of traditional practitioners who have always kept these crafts alive — in villages, in family cellars, at long Georgian tables where hospitality is understood as a serious moral obligation. His partnership with Gela Patalishvili grew from a shared conviction that the most interesting wines in Georgia were being made by people who had never stopped using the ancient methods, and that the global wine market simply didn’t know they existed yet.

The philosophy at Pheasant’s Tears has never required a mission statement because it is embedded in every practical decision: no sulphur additions, wild yeast fermentation only, extended skin contact in buried qvevri, no fining or filtration. The winery works exclusively with indigenous Georgian varieties, refusing international grapes on principle. This is not purity for its own sake — it is a coherent argument that Georgia’s wine identity is worth protecting, and that protection requires production.

The name itself is a translation of the Georgian term for a wine so good it moves you to tears — or, in one etymology, a reference to the ancient legend of the pheasant as a symbol of the wild Caucasus.

The winemaker and family

Gela Patalishvili was already a respected winemaker when he and Wurdeman began working together, with deep roots in Kakhetian traditional winemaking methods. The collaboration between a Georgian practitioner of ancient techniques and an American outsider with a painter’s eye turned out to produce something neither could have made alone: wines that are rigorously traditional in method but presented and communicated in a way that the international market could understand and respond to.

Wurdeman himself is a constant presence at the winery and restaurant, and if you are lucky enough to encounter him during a visit, the conversation will move fluidly between winemaking, painting, Georgian polyphonic music (which he has spent decades studying and recording), and the broader question of what authentic cultural production looks like in a globalising world. His immersion in Georgian life — he speaks fluent Georgian, has Georgian children, has been performing with traditional singing groups for decades — gives his winemaking advocacy a credibility that no marketing operation could fabricate.

Vineyards and grape varieties

Pheasant’s Tears farms in several locations across Kakheti, working with old vineyards where indigenous varieties have been growing for generations. The vineyard philosophy mirrors the winery philosophy: minimal intervention, no systemic herbicides or synthetic pesticides, respect for the vine’s natural cycle.

The variety range is where Pheasant’s Tears distinguishes itself most dramatically from any other producer in Georgia. Alongside the well-known Rkatsiteli and Saperavi, they work with:

Khikhvi — A rare white variety from the Kvareli area, producing wines of extraordinary aromatic intensity and golden richness. Almost extinct before the natural wine revival drew attention to it.

Tavkveri — A red variety from Kartli traditionally used for light, aromatic wines but capable of considerable complexity in the right hands.

Shavkapito — Another near-extinct Kartli red, producing wines with a distinctive tannic structure and dark fruit character quite unlike Saperavi.

Chinuri — A fresh, mineral white from Kartli, one of Georgia’s most elegant varieties.

Aladasturi — A rare red that appears occasionally in the Pheasant’s Tears range, producing wines of deep colour and structured tannin.

The commitment to these varieties is inseparable from the winery’s broader mission. By making commercially viable wines from near-extinct cultivars, Pheasant’s Tears creates an economic argument for their preservation that no amount of agricultural heritage designation can match.

Winemaking method

Everything at Pheasant’s Tears happens in qvevri — the large, egg-shaped clay vessels buried in the earth that Georgia has been using for winemaking for at least 8,000 years. For a detailed explanation of how qvevri winemaking works, see our qvevri winemaking guide.

At Pheasant’s Tears, white grapes are fermented and macerated with full skin contact, exactly as they would have been in traditional Kakhetian practice. The wines spend between six months and a year on their skins before being pressed and transferred to clean qvevri for further maturation. No temperature control is used — the buried qvevri maintains a naturally stable temperature of around 14°C. No commercial yeasts are added; fermentation begins and proceeds from the wild populations living on the grape skins and in the winery itself.

The result is wines that look entirely different from conventional whites: deeply amber in colour, tannic and structured in texture, with complex aromas of dried fruit, beeswax, walnut, and herbs that develop over years in the bottle.

What to taste

The Pheasant’s Tears portfolio changes with each vintage, but several wines have become benchmarks:

Rkatsiteli is always the entry point — a deeply amber, full-skinned wine that shows what Georgia’s most widely planted white grape can become when treated with seriousness.

Kisi regularly produces one of the most praised bottles in the range — aromatic, complex, with the structure to age for a decade or more.

Khikhvi is the rare-variety highlight — an experience that simply cannot be replicated anywhere else on earth.

Saperavi is produced as a serious red with deep colour and considerable ageing potential.

Chinuri and Tavkveri (the latter occasionally as a light, skin-contact rosé) round out a range that is never large but always intentional.

Ask to taste at least three wines during your visit. If you are serious about Georgian wine, buy a mixed case — these wines are significantly harder to find outside Georgia, and prices at the cellar door are the most reasonable you will encounter.

Visiting: logistics and what to expect

Pheasant’s Tears operates from a beautifully restored historic building in the centre of Sighnaghi, the hilltop walled town that has become Georgia’s wine tourism capital. The winery is on the main street — impossible to miss, and worth taking a moment to appreciate the restoration work before you go inside.

Cellar tours: Tours of the qvevri cellar are available and excellent — the marani at Pheasant’s Tears is a working cellar that has been arranged for intelligibility without becoming a museum. You will see qvevri in various stages of use, smell the beeswax and the wine, and come away with a tangible understanding of a process that most wine writing can only describe abstractly.

Tastings: Tastings can be arranged with advance booking and are typically conducted in the restaurant space or in the cellar itself. Expect to taste five to seven wines with knowledgeable guidance. The cost varies depending on the tasting format — check current pricing when you book.

The restaurant: The Pheasant’s Tears restaurant is open to all visitors and does not require a winery booking. The food is exceptional Georgian cuisine — not tourist Georgian food, but the kind of cooking that emerges from genuine engagement with the ingredient-driven, hospitality-oriented traditions of the supra table. It is one of the best meals you will eat in Kakheti, and pairing it with the wines is revelatory. Book in advance during summer months.

Languages: English is spoken to a good standard at the winery. French and Russian are also covered.

Reservations: Email or telephone ahead for cellar tours. The restaurant can be booked directly. Weekends in high season (May–October) fill quickly.

Book a Sighnaghi wine tasting tour from Tbilisi

Best time of year to visit

Pheasant’s Tears is rewarding in any season, but certain times are particularly special.

Harvest (September–October): The most dramatic time. Rtveli turns Sighnaghi into a festival of grapes and noise — the smell of fermenting must fills the streets, and the winery is working at full intensity. The restaurant runs harvest menus. The new vintage wines can sometimes be tasted in early fermentation.

Spring (April–May): The previous vintage’s amber wines are settling into their personalities after the winter maturation period. The Kakheti landscape is at its most beautiful — green vineyards, snow still on the Caucasus ridgeline. Sighnaghi itself is magical in spring light.

Winter (November–March): The quietest period, and the most contemplative. The cellar work — punching down caps, monitoring fermentation, preparing vessels — is interesting to observe. Wine tourists are rare, and the conversation with winemakers who have time on their hands tends to be the deepest.

Buying wine and taking it home

Bottles are available at the cellar door at significantly lower prices than you will find in Tbilisi wine bars or international import markets. Prices range from approximately 35–80 GEL depending on the wine and vintage.

Shipping wine home from Georgia is logistically difficult. Airlines allow a small number of wine bottles in checked luggage if properly wrapped; specialist wine shipping companies (ask the winery for their current recommendation) can arrange larger quantities. The honest answer is: bring an extra bag and pack what you can carry.

The wines are exported to many countries — the UK, USA, France, Italy, Japan, and others — so it is possible to find them at home, but the selection will be smaller and the price considerably higher than the cellar door.

Nearby wineries to combine

Sighnaghi is one of the best wine-visit locations in Georgia precisely because it is surrounded by excellent producers within short driving distance.

Okro’s Wines — John Okruashvili’s small family natural wine operation is a natural companion visit (see our Okro’s Wines guide). Hilltop views, tiny-batch qvevri wines, and a completely different scale of operation from Pheasant’s Tears.

Lagvinari — Eko Glonti’s serious amber wine producer near Sighnaghi, by appointment only.

Khareba Winery in Kvareli is a larger operation famous for its underground tunnel cellar — good contrast with the intimate Pheasant’s Tears experience.

For the logistics of combining multiple visits, see our Kakheti wine tours guide.

Book a full-day Kakheti wine tour with 9 tastings from Tbilisi

FAQ

Do I need to book in advance? For cellar tours, yes — book at least a day or two ahead and further in advance during summer. The restaurant can also be booked ahead; walk-ins are possible but not guaranteed on busy evenings.

How long should I allow for a visit? Budget at least two hours for the cellar tour and tasting. If you are also eating at the restaurant, plan for four hours minimum. Many visitors arrive in Sighnaghi for the winery and end up spending the night — which is the right instinct.

Are the wines vegetarian and vegan? Yes. No animal-derived fining agents are used — the wines clarify naturally in the qvevri over winter.

What is the difference between Pheasant’s Tears and conventional Georgian wine? The difference is fundamental: everything at Pheasant’s Tears is made from indigenous varieties with wild yeasts, zero additives, and full skin contact in qvevri. Conventional Georgian wine typically uses commercial yeasts, sulphur additions, filtration, and sometimes international grape varieties. The taste difference is enormous.

Can I bring children? The restaurant is family-friendly. The cellar tour involves descending a staircase into a traditional marani — fine for older children, manageable for younger ones with care.

Is there accommodation in Sighnaghi nearby? Sighnaghi has excellent boutique accommodation within walking distance of the winery. Our Sighnaghi vs Telavi guide covers the options in detail.